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Top 10 things to do in Adelaide

Australia's food and wine capital is steadily becoming one of the country's most exciting places to live, thanks to the recent emergence of its nightlife scene and festivals, all topped-off by a gorgeous landscape! Here's what to do on your trip to Adelaide.

Photo: Amanda Slater @Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Victoria Square

Adelaide's central square is home to many of the city's most famous landmarks, including the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Torrens Building, and Supreme Court of South Australia.

Adelaide Hills

The hills are world-renowned for the quality of the region's wines, but book a day trip as much for the spectacular landscape and historic towns as the tasty local tipple!

Adelaide Zoo

The city's beautiful zoo on the River Torrens is home to around 1800 native and exotic creatures, including Australia's only giant pandas, Wang Wang and Funi!

Cleland Wildlife Park

If you'd prefer to spend a day solely among Australia's endemic animals – kangaroos, koalas, emus, etc – then don't miss this beloved wildlife park in the Adelaide Hills!

Photo: Amanda Slater @Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Haigh's Chocolate Factory

Don't expect snozzberries and Oompa Loompas, but Haigh's HQ offers chocoholics an insight into the creation of Australia's most luxurious confectionary. The best part? It's free!

Barossa Valley

River Torrens

Boat tours of Adelaide's river provide effortless sightseeing trips through the city. Impress the locals by calling it "Karra wirra-parri," its native Kaurna name!

Photo: Ruben Schade @Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Hahndorf

Take the South Eastern Freeway to South Australia's oldest surviving German settlement. Its Lutheran churches and lush surrounding scenery make for a quaint and peaceful day-trip!

Photo: eosdude @Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Adelaide Oval

Considered the world's prettiest cricket ground, there are few better places for the intrepid sports fan to enjoy a taste of Australia's favorite past-time!

Photo: Alan Levine @Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Art Gallery of South Australia

Beloved for its collections of Australian and Aboriginal art, this museum is one of Adelaide's leading cultural attractions. Guided tours are free between 11:00AM and 2:00PM!

Planning Your Adelaide Visit

How many days?

Four or five days should be enough to see the sights while still allowing for a day-trip or two.

How to get around?

If you're planning on covering a lot of ground, then it might be wise to rent a car. However, if you have no desire to stray far from the city center, you can ride for free on the Free City tram and City-Loop bus (99C), which cover most of the inner-city attractions. Adelaide also boasts the bright green Tindo – the world's first solar-powered bus!

Good to know

Language

English

Currency

AUD ($)

Time Zone

UTC (+09:30)

Country Code

61

Best time to visit

The temperatures in Adelaide are pleasant throughout the year, but can get warm from November through March. June is the wettest month, but March is considered to have the best festivals!

Other Sightseeing Options in Adelaide

What people are saying about Adelaide

An excellent day out, filled with wine, cheese and more

Getaways were happy to pick us up in Largs North - well out of the city - which we appreciated. There were four of us on the tour (myself and partner, plus two ladies from Melbourne) and we had a great day getting to know each other plus our tour guide Gavin. We went to two wineries, a gin distillery (Ambleside - had very nice tasting of their three gins, with added boranicals), a family owned strawberry farm (Beerenberg - lots of jams, honeys and jellies etc to taste), a cheese place in Hahndorf (more tastings), plus time spent looking around the charming town of Hahndorf itself. It has heaps of shops with quality products, wine, food and beer, and we had an excellent German lunch in the historic Hahndorf Inn. Gavin was happy to tailor the tour to our preferences and we all had a superb day out.

Very interesting and highlighted much of the history of the oval

Our guide was very generous with his time given that part of our group were very slow getting up and down stairs, however given the age of two of our group he needed to project his voice more for them to hear properly. He as quite specific in his approach to the tour and I had heard that some of the tour guide have good stories to tell a bit. More of this would have been appreciated.
When I had asked about the tour I probably needed more information about the number of stairs due to mobility issues for a person in our group. I personally enjoyed the tour as did others in our group. Particularly the scoreboard and the halls of fame of cricketers and football players. I thank the oval board or whoever for providing the opportunity of such a tour

Great - good cellar door experiences, and great ending at Maggie Beers

Many thanks for trying to track us down at Adabco - even calling my home in NZ.
The complication arose because I booked the tour with you in my name, Nancy Pollock,
while the hotel booked us in under Andrew Branson's name, my partner. We were
staying at the Adabco, but must have been between floors when Bruce the drive came looking for us. The Adabco reception was most persistent in seeking out the Driver's phone connection.
So glad he found us and made up a party of five

Well-informed and very friendly guide; 4 good quality varied wineries.

Our guide, Caroline, was prompt; she was knowledgeable and very friendly. A safe driver she took us to 4 good quality and very different wineries. Visit to the Cube a must! All winery staff were knowledgeable and amiable. Lunch at Leconfield was delicious and very relaxed! Finished the day at the beautiful Samuel's Gorge! Thanks to Carolyne, we had a fantastic day: the best of the 3 tours were have done in Adelaide.

This was an outstanding tour with an outstanding guide Phil

Phil was our tour guide who demonstrated an intense knowledge of the wine industry. He also catered for our needs and showcased the region. All of the wine tastings were exceptional wines. We highly recommend this tour and Phil